Education Program on Human Rights for Working Children

Duration
March 2007 – March 2009

Partners
The European Union (EU)

Beneficiaries
Youth and juvenile delinquents.

Background
There is an estimated number of 5,000 working children in Bab el Tebbaneh (Tripoli), and the highest rate of juvenile delinquents in jail comes from that neighborhood. Those children lack any judiciary assistance, and their families have access to no legal information or orientation. A new law governing juvenile delinquents situation has been recently promulgated, but it is not applied all the time.

Description
The objective of the project is to raise awareness among youth on human rights (their origins, contents, mechanisms, and international conventions), citizenship (rights and responsibilities of citizenship), and democracy (its definition, practices, etc.) through a participatory approach utilizing debates, role-playing, and other such activities.
It is envisioned that the notions of tolerance, equality, dignity, freedom, and respect within the Universal Declaration of Human Rights will lead to the promotion of intercultural and inter-religious dialogue.

 

Target groups
These include: Children enrolled in public or semi-public schools in Tripoli area, administrative and teaching staff, parents, working children from Bab el Tebbaneh, juvenile delinquents, and lawyers and judges.

Objectives
To raise awareness on Human Rights issues among professionals and increase youth knowledge about their rights
To implement educational activities
To provide legal assistance to juvenile in conflict with the law

Activities
Organization of 24 one-day events targeting youth at risk: during these events, trained educators through recreational activities (drawing, role play, songs, etc) let children express themselves and raise awareness on their rights. (Click for pictures from the events)
Organization of 50 sessions of awareness in schools around Tripoli.
Design of 2 brochures: One targeting families and communities, and one targeting lawyers and judges.
Organization of 4 workshops targeting professionals dealing with juvenile delinquents.
Providing judiciary assistance.